1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a disposable surgical gown and more particularly to such a gown provided with a bib configured to provide an additional barrier layer and a hand support pocket and which may additionally serve to form a belt tunnel for a wraparound belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is not unusual for there to be long periods of inactivity between the start and conclusion of certain involved operating procedures. For example, the surgeon may need results on the phases of the operation already completed, such as X-rays or pathology reports, before he can continue with the rest of the operation. Sometimes, there are parts of an operating procedure which do not require hands, such as during perfusion operations where medicated blood is circulated through parts of the patient's body for long periods of time. In various teaching situations, a surgeon frequently stops and talks, allowing the assistant to continue.
During such periods of manual inactivity, operating room procedures require that at all times the gloved and sterile surgeon maintain his hands in the restricted aseptic zone outlined by his waist, neck and shoulders. This is also true, of course, of the other members of the surgical team.
Heretofore prior art workers have devised various muff-type hand supports for reusable woven fabric surgical gowns. Frequently surgeons refuse to use disposable surgical gowns in favor of reusable gowns provided with hand support means, despite the fact that such reusable surgical gowns have certain deficiencies. For example, the reusable gowns are generally not liquid repellent when used, either because they are not treated for liquid repellency, or because repeated laundering and sterilization has removed any initial liquid repellency treatment. Reusable surgical gowns with hand support means are generally expensive to manufacture and therefor must be premium priced.
The present invention teaches various embodiments of bib-like structures providing, among other things, a sterile hand support pocket for a disposable surgical gown. The bib structures of the present invention do not materially add to the cost of manufacture of the disposable surgical gown and the hand support pocket formed thereby supports the surgeon's hands more centrally of the restricted aseptic zone.
Another problem with the use of surgical gowns is that of strike-through of liquids encountered during the surgical procedures (for example, blood, serums, treating fluids such as water and saline solutions, and the like). Such strike-through establishes a path for the transmission of bacteria to and from the wearer of the surgical gown. As indicated above, prior art reusable woven fabric surgical gowns were frequently not treated for liquid repellency or, even when so treated would not retain such liquid repellency by virtue of frequent laundering and sterilization.
Prior art workers have provided reusable surgical gowns with reinforcing front panels as, for example, taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,846,686 in the name of Daniel Tames and issued on Aug. 12, 1958. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,172 in the name of Daniel Tames, issued Dec. 5, 1961, a reusable surgical gown is taught having a flexible panel of lightweight, moisture-proof and electrically conductive material secured over the major part of the inner surface of the front panel of the surgical gown. The moisture-proof and electrically conductive panel is taught as being made of a very thin sheet of synthetic rubber impregnated with carbon or other material of equivalent properties. U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,285 in the name of Nathan L. Belkin, issued Oct. 24, 1967, teaches a reusable gown, the upper front panel and the lower sleeve panels of which are made of closely woven cotton yarn treated with a water repellent chemical agent. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,767, in the name of Carl R. Grosz, issued Oct. 5, 1971, a reusable gown is taught having an outer apron-like member overlying the body portion of the surgical gown. U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,640, in the name of Richard E. Ericson, issued Apr. 16, 1974, teaches a surgeon's gown having a water resistant cummerbund.
Most of the prior art single-use surgical gowns have been made from fabrics treated for repellency. This has reduced strike-through, at least for a limited time. Prior art workers have devised single-use gowns intended for critical procedures, and premium priced, having a film lining in specific areas, for instance at the chest area where there may be a danger from pressure generated strike-through. Normally, polyethylene is used and is either applied as a separate laminate to the nonwoven fabric (thick enough to resist abrasion but stiff and inflexible) or cast onto the nonwoven fabric (where it penetrates between the fibers rendering the fabric stiff).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,668,294 in the name of Phyllis B. Gilpin, issued Feb. 9, 1954, teaches a disposable hospital gown of paper or nonwoven fabric, the front portion or all of which is treated with a suitable plastic (either manufactured into the material or applied after manufacture) for water repellency. U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,569 in the names of Robert J. Rotanz and Joseph F. Hanlon, issued Dec. 26, 1967, teaches a disposable surgical gown made of fluid repellent material such as a laminated scrim reinforced nonwoven material having a fluid repellent bib at the front of the gown and affixed thereto only at the shoulders. U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,728 in the name of Henrietta K. Krzewinski, issued Mar. 4, 1975, teaches a disposable surgical gown with a front panel or operative field having an absorbent outer surface and a liquid impervious inner surface. The front panel may be made of a nonwoven, extrusion coated with polyethylene, polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride. Alternatively, the front panel may constitute an absorbent polyurethane foam laminated to a fluid impervious material such as polyethylene; an absorbent tissue bonded to a sheet of polyvinyl chloride; or an absorbent nonwoven fabric bonded to a liquid impervious material such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene or the like. The bonding of the absorbent and liquid impervious layers may be an overall bond, a spot bond or a peripheral bond.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention wherein a bib is affixed to the inside surface of the surgical gown front, the bib provides an additional layer of fabric in the critical chest area to guard against microbial transmission. The bib may be made of the same liquid repellent, nonwoven material as the surgical gown itself. Since porous, repellent, nonwoven fabrics normally can transmit liquids under pressure (for example, liquids clinging to the gloves of the surgeon can be transmitted through porous, repellent, nonwoven fabric when the glove is pressed against the fabric), the bib may be made of a fluid (both gas and liquid) impervious film or nonwoven-film laminate to be completely resistant to fluids. The bib may be made, for example, of the same nonwoven fabric as the remainder of the surgical gown and may be coated on one of its sides with a polymeric film-forming coating (such as acrylic latex of the like) which will provide a barrier against contamination via the route of fluid strike through. The gown remains comfortable to the wearer in spite of the lining of latex composition since the film lining is limited to the bib area and the rest of the gown remains breathable.
Reusable and disposable surgical gowns provided with a belt tunnel of one sort or another are shown in the previously mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,668,294; 2,846,686; and 3,011,172. U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,240 in the name of Armigene R. Johnson, issued Oct. 23, 1962, teaches a standard garment with a strap-attached belt permitting vertical belt adjustment.
In the surgical gown of the present invention the bib can be extended to provide a belt tunnel for a wraparound-type belt. This not only improves protection against strike-through where the surgeon presses against the operating table, but also provides a clear, unencumbered front for the surgical gown, forcing the surgeon to tie the belt at the side rather than at the front where the tie loops could interfere with the operation. The belt tunnel provides a facility for storing the belt in folded condition; enbles the provision of means for vertical adjustment of the belt so that the surgical gown may be made in a limited number of sizes; and provides a better location for grasping the wraparound belt by the wearer or an attendant.